Clippers wrap up regular season with win

Saturday

Feb 23, 2013 at 3:15 AM

BY MIKE ZHEPortsmouth Herald

PORTSMOUTH — Call them the best of the rest.

It didn’t come right away, but the Portsmouth High School girls basketball team eventually pulled away for the win it wanted Friday night, topping Souhegan, 58-36, in the regular-season finale for both teams at Stone Gym.

“We knew we needed to get the seed spot for the playoffs,” said junior guard Tighe Loch, who chipped in seven points. “It was a big deal. We wanted that No. 2 spot.”

It might be a case of be-careful-what-you-wish-for. According to the standings, the Clippers will host No. 15 Oyster River (6-12) in the first round, a local thorn in their second-place side. They won both regular-season meetings against OR, but by scores of 52-50 and 43-40.

Of course, the rest of Division II is looking way up at Lebanon, which finished up its regular season at 18-0 earlier this week, with no opponent staying within 20 points of it.

The Sabers (7-11) were led by junior Camden Formby-Lavertu, who scored 10 points, eight of them from the foul line. They likely dropped into the 14th seed and will play a first-round game at third-place Windham on Tuesday.

Portsmouth began the night by honoring its four seniors — starting forwards Parker, Alicia Brown and Christina Jones, and reserve guard Ashley Linane. Then it found itself a track meet.

Neither team missed many shots early on. The 6-foot-3 Brown’s night got knocked off track when she picked up a second foul just three minutes in, but her team got strong offensive minutes from junior Abby Salvadore (five points) and led 17-16 after one quarter.

Defense was another story.

“The stuff they were doing to us in the first period confused us and made us wonder how we were ever going to defend them,” said Portsmouth coach Danny Parr.

The rebuilding Sabers, behind junior Mickenzie Larivee (eight points) and freshman Hannah Chick, used strong play and back-to-back baskets to take their first lead, 22-21, midway through the second quarter, prompting Parr to take a timeout.

His team responded. Loch pulled up and hit a long shot the next time down to a kick off a quick, 8-0 spurt that was capped by her backcourt mate, Collins, driving on the baseline and hanging for a jumper.

Loch tacked on a 3-pointer before the half was up and the Clippers took a 34-26 lead to the locker room.

“I felt great where we were at halftime,” said Souhegan coach Jeremy Faulkner, who has just one senior on his roster. “Our first-half play this whole year is fantastic. Even against Lebanon, we were only down four at the half. But the second half, with the inexperience, it kills us.”

In the third quarter, boosted by a switch to a man-to-man defense — “Scary,” said Parr, “because I thought their kids were quicker than we were” — and aided by the absence of Souhegan point guard Devon Hickey, battling an illness and kept on the bench, the Clippers completely shut down their foes, not allowing a single field goal and increasing their lead to 48-27.

“We played well defensively and found enough ways to get baskets,” said Parr.

Nobody did more in the quarter than Parker, the athletic, 5-foot-11 forward who took over the boards (seven rebounds in the period), and either gave her team possessions or turned them into putbacks on the offensive end.

In the end, the Clippers could celebrate their final regular-season game at Stone Gym for their seniors, though they could be back here twice more if they take care of early-round playoff business next week.

“The seniors have been great,” said Collins. “They’ve been great leaders all the years that we’ve played with them.”